ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Proceeds of Crime

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how much money subject to a Crown Prosecution Service restraining or confiscation order has been diverted to meet the costs of a private-sector receiver in each of the last three financial years; and what proportion that amount was of all assets subject to such orders.

Oliver Heald: The following table contains data from the last three financial years on the total amount restrained under restraint orders, the total fees paid to management receivers and the percentage of receivership fees as a proportion of the restrained amount.
	
		
			 Management receiverships 
			 Financial year Fees paid to management receivers (£) Total amount restrained under restraint order amount1 (£) Percentage of receivership fees as a proportion of the amount restrained 
			 2011-12 1,677,316.04 142,861,002.70 1.17 
			 2012-13 995,667.35 142,878,474.31 0.70 
			 2013-14 1,168,938.64 145,485,882.31 0.80 
			 1 The amount shown represents the entirety of restrained funds. However, in many cases, the receiver is appointed to manage carefully selected assets and not all of the funds restrained. Accordingly, the receiver’s fees as a proportion of the amount of restrained funds he manages could be considerably higher than the figures shown above. Note: The amount restrained is constantly fluctuating due to a number of factors including payment of reasonable living expenses from restrained funds and the changing values of real property. Accordingly, it is difficult to get an accurate value as to the amount restrained at any one time. 
		
	
	The following table contains data from the last three financial years on the total confiscation order amount (i.e. the sum of all assets included in confiscation orders), total fees paid to enforcement receivers and the percentage of receivership fees as a proportion of the confiscation order amount.
	
		
			 Enforcement receivers 
			 Financial year Fees paid to enforcement receivers (£) Total confiscation order amount1 (including any variations) (£) Percentage of receivership fees as a proportion of the confiscation order amount 
			 2011-12 2,716,436.53 109,684,469.49 2.48 
			 2012-13 2,982,980.41 140,752,428.67 2.12 
			 2013-14 1,413,235.87 138,249,651.38 1.02 
			 1 The amount shown represents the total sum of assets available for confiscation. However, in many cases, the receiver is appointed to realise carefully selected assets and not all assets listed in the confiscation order. Accordingly, the receiver’s fees as a proportion of the assets he is appointed to realise could be considerably higher than the figures shown above.

Stationery

John Redwood: To ask the Attorney-General what levels of stock the Law Officers’ Departments hold of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

Oliver Heald: The Crown Prosecution Service has reduced its expenditure on stationery substantially since 2010, however, inventories of stationery items and office consumables are not maintained and to calculate the stock levels held would incur a disproportionate cost.
	The remaining Law Officers’ Departments operate “Just in Time” purchasing for most stationery items and do not therefore keep details on the exact levels of stock of stationery, printer cartridges, treasury tags and other fasteners or other office consumables. Providing such information would incur a disproportionate cost.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprentices aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) 19 to 24 and (c) 25 years or over are employed at each of his Department's Executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and associated bodies and agencies.

Matthew Hancock: I have asked chief executives of the Executive agencies to respond directly to the hon. Member.
	Until 2013, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills did not keep a record of the age of internal apprentices. The table shows the age of both externally recruited apprentices since 2010 and ages of those apprentices embarking on the Department’s internal apprenticeship programme in 2013. The 2013 figure refers to the ages of those on the Department’s internal programme. There are no externally recruited apprentices in the 25 years or over category.
	
		
			  2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 16 to 18 0 0 0 1 
			 19 to 24 2 1 2 11 
			 25 years or over 0 0 0 16 
		
	
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills currently has 53 apprentices. We have had 4 successful completions this year.
	16 of these 53 apprentices are under the age of 21 with a further 6 apprentices under 21 expected to join the Department later in the year.
	Letter from John Alty, dated 7 April 2014
	I am responding in respect of the Intellectual Property Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled 3rd April 2014, to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in which you ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) 19 to 24 and (c) 25 years or over are employed at each of his Department's executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and associated bodies and agencies. (195212)
	The Intellectual Property Office is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). It does not currently employ any apprentices, but is in the process of introducing a scheme to bring 8 in from September 2014.
	Letter from John Hirst, dated 7 April 2014
	I am replying on behalf of the Met Office to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 3 April 2014, DIN 195212 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	There are no apprentices working at the Met Office. The Met Office primarily meets its needs for trainees through graduate recruitment campaigns. In addition, the Met Office runs an innovative IT Trainee Scheme, training individuals from A-Level standard upwards. It also offers paid summer placement opportunities to those who have just completed the first year of A' levels, current undergraduates or those who have completed their studies.
	I hope this helps.
	Letter from Richard Judge, dated 8 April 2014
	In response to PQ 2013/3483, I confirm that the Insolvency Service has twelve existing members of staff who are undertaking an apprenticeship. The age breakdown is provided in the table.
	
		
			 Age of apprentice Number of apprentices currently employed 
			 16-18 0 
			 19-24 1 
			 25 years or over 11 
			 Total number of apprentices 12 
		
	
	The Agency does not have any new hire apprentices in its employment at present.
	Letter from Ed Lester, dated 8 April 2014
	I write on behalf of Land Registry in response to your parliamentary question numbered 195212 tabled on 03 April 2014 which asked the following:
	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) 19 to 24 and (c) 25 years or over are employed at each of his Department's executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and associated bodies and agencies.
	I can confirm that Land Registry does not currently employ any apprentices but that we are working on proposals to take on apprentices in future.
	I hope that you find this information helpful.
	Letter from Barbara Spicer, dated 7 April 2014
	Thank you for your question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) 19 to 24 and (c) 25 years or over are employed at each of his Department's executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and associated bodies and agencies. (195212)
	Please be advised that the Skills Funding Agency has 28 apprentices in total aged (a) 16 to 18-2 (b) 19 to 24-24 (c) 25 years or over-2.
	I hope this satisfactorily addresses your question. If you have any follow up queries, please let me know.
	Letter from Sarah Glasspool, dated 4 April 2014
	I am responding in respect of the National Measurement Office (NMO), an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 3 April 2014, asking the BIS Secretary of State how many apprentices aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) 19 to 24 and (c) 25 years or over are employed at each of his Department's executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and associated bodies and agencies.
	The National Measurement Office (NMO) employs one apprentice who falls into age bracket (a).
	Letter from Neil Hartley, dated 4 April 2014
	I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled 3 April 2014, UIN 195212 to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	Companies House does not employ any apprentices.
	Letter from Vanessa Lawrence, dated 4 April 2014
	As Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) 19 to 24 and (c) 25 years or over are employed at each of his Department's executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and associated bodies and agencies.
	(a) No apprentices aged 16 to 18 are employed by Ordnance Survey.
	(b) No apprentices aged 19 to 24 are employed by Ordnance Survey.
	(c) No apprentices aged 25 or over are employed by Ordnance Survey.
	Should you have any further questions, please let me know.
	I hope this information is helpful.
	Letter from David Parker
	Thank you for your question addressed to the Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills asking how many apprentices aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) 19 to 24 and (c) 25 years or over are employed at each of his Department's executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and associated bodies and agencies.
	The UK Space Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and has no apprentices employed.

Government Departments: Secondment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer to Lord Adonis of 3 June 2013, Official Report, House of Lords, column 122WA, on Government Departments: secondments, of those secondments to his Department listed on that date, how many of these secondments related (a) wholly, (b) partly and (c) incidentally to the privatisation of Royal Mail; and how many of those secondments took place primarily for the purpose of helping with the privatisation of Royal Mail.

Michael Fallon: Of the secondees listed in the answer given to the noble Lord, Lord Adonis on 3 June 2013, two worked on the Royal Mail privatisation in the Shareholder Executive.

Government Departments: Secondment

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in how many secondments from the private sector to his Department and its agencies the secondee's work-related (a) wholly, (b) partly or (c) incidentally to the privatisation of Royal Mail; from which firms those secondments were made; and on what dates they began and ended.

Michael Fallon: In the Shareholder Executive teams are put together to work on specific projects bringing together appropriate skills and experience; such teams regularly include secondee appointments. Three secondees from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Lazard and KPMG spent varying degrees of time working at the Shareholder Executive on the Royal Mail IPO. The Freshfields secondee worked on various projects, and worked wholly on the Royal Mail privatisation for the second half of the secondment. The Lazard and KPMG secondees were engaged to work principally on Royal Mail. No secondee held a senior position in the team.
	The KPMG secondment started in June 2013 and is continuing. The Freshfields secondment started in December 2012 and ended in November 2013. The Lazard secondment ran from January 2013 to January 2014.

Royal Mail

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what due diligence was undertaken by officials in his Department in relation to the reliability of the gentlemen's agreement on the holding of Royal Mail shares by priority investors.

Michael Fallon: There was no agreement—gentleman's or otherwise—on the holding of Royal Mail shares by priority investors.

Royal Mail

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what safeguards were (a) sought and (b) put in place to ensure that priority investors would continue to invest over a longer period of time in respect of the privatisation of Royal Mail.

Michael Fallon: More than 500 would-be investors in Royal Mail were approached in the lead up to the sale including potential long term institutional investors.
	As is standard practice for any flotation, we did not seek to lock in any investors as they would have paid less for a stock they could not trade.
	We understand that the majority of the shares, other than those owned by Government, the Royal Mail workforce and retail investors, are currently held by long term institutional investors.

Shipping: Training

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential effect of reform of apprenticeships resulting from the Richard Review on the cost of training new (a) ratings and (b) officer cadets in the maritime industry; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: Different apprenticeship programmes operate in England and Scotland. Doug Richard’s Review focused on English apprenticeships and he made a number of recommendations to make the programme more rigorous and responsive to employers’ needs. The Government accepted the Richard Review principles and set out their apprenticeship reform programme in the October 2013 Implementation Plan.
	The reforms include employers developing new apprenticeship standards, requiring employers to co-invest, putting the Government funding for the external training and assessment of apprentices in the hands of their employers and setting maximum Government contribution levels. With direct access to funding, employers will be able to negotiate a price for the training with their provider, and this means it is not possible in advance of the reforms to say what the costs of training apprentices in specific occupations will be.
	The Maritime sector has a long tradition of apprenticeships which we wish to continue. English apprenticeships are currently available for Maritime occupations and employers in the sector are currently designing a new apprenticeship standard for ratings as part of our Phase 2 Trailblazer programme.
	The Government have recognised through Alternative Completion Conditions Regulations that, in some maritime occupations, apprentices may be trainees rather than employees. The apprenticeships funding reform technical consultation is open until 1 May 2014 and this includes a question about how, or to what extent, the new funding principles and mechanism can be applied to non-employed apprentices.

CABINET OFFICE

Consultants

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by No. 10 Downing Street in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid;
	(2)  which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid;
	(3)  which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them;
	(4)  which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for No. 10 Downing Street in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.

Francis Maude: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	Before the last general election, including for the entire period while the hon. Member was a Minister in this very Department, there were no effective cross-governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.
	That’s all changed and ministers—supported by Cabinet Office officials—now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1 billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.
	We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the civil service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.
	We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.

Domestic Violence

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what analysis of the victim profile in domestic abuse cases his Department has undertaken.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what analysis of the victim profile in domestic abuse cases has been undertaken. (196559)
	The Office for National Statistics publishes an annual report which focuses specifically on violent crime and sexual offences. Within this publication, there is a subset of information which covers profiles of victims of domestic abuse, for offences occurring in the previous year as well as those taking place since age 16.
	A copy of the most recent of these reports, ‘Focus On Violent Crime and Sexual Offences 2012/13’, can be found here:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/focus-on-violent-crime-and-sexual-offences--2012-13/index.html

Ethnic Groups: Latin America

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, 
	(1)  what plans his Department has to ensure that the Latin American community is better recognised in official statistics;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of people of Latin American ethnicity in (a) the UK, (b) England and Wales, (c) London, (d) each London borough and (e) Streatham constituency.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Caron Walker, dated April 2014
	In the absence of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number of people of Latin American ethnicity in (a) the UK, (b) England and Wales, (c) London, (d) each London borough and (e) Streatham constituency (196454) and what plans his Department has to ensure that the Latin American community is better recognised in official statistics. (196455)
	196454
	Table 1 provides the information you require using 2011 Census data for Northern Ireland, England and Wales, London boroughs and Streatham constituency. Equivalent data was not collected for Scotland by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) therefore I am not able to provide information at the UK level.
	196455
	The 2011 Census data for Latin American was collected through ‘write in’ responses to the ethnic group question. A consultation was undertaken to determine the ethnic group tick boxes to be included in the England and Wales 2011 Census. ONS recommends that this ethnic group question be used in all social surveys, though organisations may want to adapt it to incorporate specific data requirements. While the Office for National Statistics (ONS) received requests for approximately 20 new tick boxes, there was no strong policy need highlighted for a Latin American tick box. There are currently no plans to relook at the recommended ethnic group standards.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of usual residents identifying their Ethnic group as Latin/South/Central American 
			 Area type Area code Area name All usual residents (Persons number) Ethnic group: Latin/South/Central American1 (Persons Number) Ethnic group: Latin/South/Central American1, 2 (Persons percentage) 
			 National K04000001 ENGLAND AND WALES 56,075,912 71,131 0.1 
			 Country E92000001 ENGLAND 53,012,456 70,404 0.1 
			 Country W92000004 WALES 3,063,456 727 0.0 
			 Country N92000002 NORTHERN IRELAND 1,810,863 191 0.0 
			 Region E12000007 LONDON 8,173,941 48,065 0.6 
			  E13000001 Inner London 3,231,901 34,199 1.1 
			 London borough E09000007 Camden 220,338 1,877 0.9 
			 London borough E09000001 City of London 7,375 61 0.8 
			 London borough E09000012 Hackney 246,270 2,413 1.0 
			 London borough E09000013 Hammersmith and Fulham 182,493 1,802 1.0 
			 London borough E09000014 Haringey 254,926 2,828 1.1 
			 London borough E09000019 Islington 206,125 2,314 1.1 
			 London borough E09000020 Kensington and Chelsea 158,649 1,652 1.0 
			 London borough E09000022 Lambeth 303,086 5,906 1.9 
			 London borough E09000023 Lewisham 275,885 2,091 0.8 
			 London borough E09000025 Newham 307,984 2,349 0.8 
			 London borough E09000028 Southwark 288,283 5,169 1.8 
			 London borough E09000030 Tower Hamlets 254,096 1,254 0.5 
			 London borough E09000032 Wandsworth 306,995 2,344 0.8 
			 London borough E09000033 Westminster 219,396 2,139 1.0 
			  E13000002 Outer London 4,942,040 13,866 0.3 
			 London borough E09000002 Barking and Dagenham 185,911 335 0.2 
			 London borough E09000003 Barnet 356,386 1,526 0.4 
			 London borough E09000004 Bexley 231,997 195 0.1 
			 London borough E09000005 Brent 311,215 1,489 0.5 
			 London borough E09000006 Bromley 309,392 551 0.2 
			 London borough E09000008 Croydon 363,378 1,495 0.4 
			 London borough E09000009 Ealing 338,449 989 0.3 
			 London borough E09000010 Enfield 312,466 876 0.3 
			 London borough E09000011 Greenwich 254,557 842 0.3 
		
	
	
		
			 London borough E09000015 Harrow 239,056 399 0.2 
			 London borough E09000016 Havering 237,232 141 0.1 
			 London borough E09000017 Hillingdon 273,936 437 0.2 
			 London borough E09000018 Hounslow 253,957 525 0.2 
			 London borough E09000021 Kingston upon Thames 160,060 450 0.3 
			 London borough E09000024 Merton 199,693 952 0.5 
			 London borough E09000026 Redbridge 278,970 534 0.2 
			 London borough E09000027 Richmond upon Thames 186,990 561 0-3 
			 London borough E09000029 Sutton 190,146 342 0.2 
			 London borough E09000031 Waltham Forest 258,249 1,227 0.5 
			 Parliamentary constituency3 E14000978 Streatham 115,046 1,987 1.7 
			 1 The ethnic group category in Northern Ireland is Latin/South American. 2 Percentage figures rounded to 1 decimal place. 3 Parliamentary constituency boundary as at 2010. Note: 2014 Figures for England and Wales and constituent areas sourced from 2011 Census Table CT0010. Figures for Northern Ireland sourced from 2011 Census Table QS201NI Table population: All usual residents Sources: Survey: 2011 Census of England and Wales, 2011 Census of Northern Ireland reference date: 27 March 2011 Office for National Statistics (2011 Census in England and Wales) Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (2011 Census in Northern Ireland)

Government Departments: Video Conferencing

Simon Kirby: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether it is his policy to encourage civil servants to use video conferencing in order to reduce costs; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: Yes. Video conferencing can be used to reduce costs but specialist equipment can be required. Officials and ministers also make use of telephone conferencing.

Private Sector

Lucy Powell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many jobs have been transferred from the public to private sector from (a) his Department and (b) the Office of the Leader of the House as a result of privatisation or outsourcing since May 2010.

Francis Maude: The Leader of the House’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	Since May 2010, twenty-two jobs have been transferred to the Private Sector.
	Six posts through the SWIRL joint venture and 16 posts with the mutual joint venture of the Behavioural Insights Team.
	We know that joint ventures and mutuals can help drive up productivity and we will continue to support innovative business models.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many meetings his Department has had for which the check off system of paying trade union fees was on the agenda.

Francis Maude: As was the case under the previous administration, details of internal meetings are not normally published.
	Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Natural Gas: Safety

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to encourage local authorities to promote gas safety among leaseholders in local authority-managed properties.

Kris Hopkins: The Department does not provide advice on gas safety specifically for leaseholders in local authority–managed properties. However, the lease of a property will set out the responsibilities of the freeholder and the leaseholder, including responsibility for maintenance of gas appliances.
	In the private rented and social rented sectors, landlords are required by law to: repair and maintain gas pipework, keep flues and appliances in safe condition; ensure an annual gas safety check on each appliance and flue; and keep a record of each safety check.
	For the social housing sector, the Homes and Communities Agency ‘Home Standard’ says that registered providers must “meet all applicable statutory requirements that provide for the health and safety of the occupants in their homes”. The Homes and Communities Agency has recently issued three ‘serious detriment’ notices against Gallions, Your Housing Group and the Guinness Partnership for failing to maintain gas safety and they have all had their Governance ratings downgraded partly based on that.
	The Home Standard is a ‘consumer’ standard and therefore applies to all registered providers, including local authorities.

Non-domestic Rates: East Sussex

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to help shops in (a) Brighton, Kemptown constituency and (b) East Sussex with their business rate bills; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: At the autumn statement we announced a £1 billion package of business rates support to help shops and local firms. This included a £1,000 discount for two years for shops, pubs and restaurants with a rateable value of below £50,000. We do not hold figures for numbers benefitting from that measure in the Kemptown constituency. However, based on local authority reports of the amount of relief awarded in the Brighton and East Sussex areas, we estimate that 2,270 properties will benefit in Brighton and Hove, 890 in Wealdon, 810 in Lewes, 750 in Rother, and 720 in Eastbourne. We do not yet have an estimate for Hastings.
	The support package also included a 50% discount for businesses taking on long-term empty shops, the doubling of small business rate relief for another year, a 2% cap on RPI increases for 2014-15, and allowing businesses to spread their rate payments over 12 months.

Secularism and Humanism

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with (i) secularist and (ii) humanist organisations since May 2010.

Stephen Williams: Ministers have regular meetings with a range of different partners and organisations. Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations are published on the Department's website.

Wind Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 18 March 2014, Official Report, column 533W, on wind power, where within his Department information on the energy capacity of schemes is held.

Kris Hopkins: holding answer 9 April 2014
	The individual details of each appeal are submitted by the parties within a variety of documents, stored separately on the individual case files.
	My Department does not analyse or keep running totals of the generation capacity of wind turbine appeals, and it would incur disproportionate cost to create such information retrospectively. The main consideration in wind turbine appeals is the potential impact of the development on the surrounding area.
	Details on renewable energy projects are held on the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Planning Database at:
	https://restats.decc.gov.uk/cms/planning-database/

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Aerials: Planning Permission

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the average time taken to grant planning permission for mobile telephone base stations in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Nicholas Boles: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Last August, to support the roll-out of superfast mobile broadband (4G), I brought forward changes to permitted development rights which grant planning permission for specific types of mobile development. These changes apply to England only.

DEFENCE

Air Force

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2014, Official Report, column 490W, on the Royal Air Force, if he will provide details of (a) each base at which RAF personnel from the Remotely Piloted Air System division are stationed and (b) the branch and specialisation of every such person.

Mark Francois: RAF Remotely Piloted Air System (RPAS) personnel are based at RAF Waddington and Creech Air Force Base, Nevada.
	RAF personnel are from the following branches or specialisation:
	Branch/Specialisation
	Pilot
	Sensor Operator
	Mission Intelligence Coordinator
	Operations
	Engineer
	Administration
	RAF RPAS Squadrons can also include personnel from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Army.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of armoured fighting vehicles which will be (a) returned to the UK, (b) destroyed or (c) sold by the time of the main withdrawal from Afghanistan; and what the costs associated with each of those categories are to date.

Mark Francois: All armoured fighting vehicles deployed to Afghanistan will be returned to the UK. None of these have been destroyed and none are currently due to be sold.
	The information on costs associated with this activity cannot be readily broken out from the wider costs of all equipment and personnel recovery.

Baltic States

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Latvia, (b) Lithuania and (c) Estonia about strengthening defence and security relationships with those countries.

Philip Hammond: I regularly engage with my Baltic counterparts, including through EU and NATO meetings. I visited Latvia and Lithuania in September 2013; and I intend to visit the region again in the very near future.
	In December 2013 I visited Estonia where I signed the General Defence Engagement Memorandum of Understanding between our two countries.

European Fighter Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many air proximity incidents by classification took place with a Typhoon aircraft in each of the last three years; and what the other aircraft involved was in each incident, broken down by location.

Mark Francois: Details of the air proximity incidents involving Typhoon aircraft in 2011, 2012 and 2013 have been published online and can be obtained from the UK Airprox Board website at:
	http://www.airproxboard.org.uk/default.aspx?catid=423&pagetype=90&pageid=5639

Scandinavia

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when Ministers in his Department last met their counterparts from (a) Norway, (b) Finland and (c) Sweden.

Andrew Murrison: Defence Ministers meet their counterparts regularly at multinational meetings throughout the year. The Secretary of State for Defence most recently met the Defence Ministers of Norway, Finland and Sweden at the Northern Group meeting in Helsinki in December 2013, and I had a bilateral meeting with the Defence Minister of Sweden at the EU Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) meeting in Luxembourg in April 2014.

Ukraine

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the UK is deploying any military assets to assist the NATO patrol over Ukraine.

Mark Francois: NATO is not patrolling Ukranian airspace. Therefore, nor is the UK. However, the UK is contributing an E3-D aircraft to the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force flying in NATO airspace and it will be deploying four Typhoon aircraft to enhance the Polish rotation of NATO's peacetime Baltic Air Policing mission, which polices NATO airspace.

EDUCATION

Youth Work

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to promote the reputation and status of youth work.

Matthew Hancock: Responsibility for youth policy, including youth work, transferred to Cabinet Office on 3 July 2013. Cabinet Office co-ordinates cross-government work on youth policy and is also responsible for policy on international youth issues, youth voice and democracy, and the role of local authorities as well as working with the youth sector.
	The Department for Education continues its commitment to all young people through its responsibilities for education and children’s services in England; and works closely with the rest of Government on key issues such as reducing risky behaviour and increasing participation in education, employment and training.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answers of 3 February 2014, Official Report, columns 59-62W and 6 March 2014, Official Report, column 892W, on the electoral register, what the average planned cost for each download target for each voter registration campaign was for each of the last five elections.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it did not set specific targets for the cost per download of each registration campaign during the last five elections but that these campaigns were carefully planned to be as cost effective as possible.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2014, Official Report, column 892W, on electoral register, if the Electoral Commission will set more rigorous targets for expected registration downloads in future registration campaigns.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it always seeks to set stretching targets for its registration campaigns based on exceeding targets set for the nearest equivalent previous campaign.
	The Commission will be undertaking a thorough review of how best to increase voter registration ahead of the 2015 UK General Election. This will look at lessons from previous campaigns as well as exploring new and potentially more cost efficient ways of generating public awareness about voter registration, including how best to support the work of other organisations. Rigorous targets will be set to reflect the objectives of the campaign and the fact that it will be possible to register online for the first time in Great Britain.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission which local authorities in Great Britain failed the Standard Three performance standard for the completeness and accuracy of electoral registration records in 2013.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that this information was published and tabled in a written statement to the House on 31 March. The Commission has written to the hon. Member with a copy of the report.

Parliamentary Advisory Group

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2014, Official Report, columns 338-9W, on Parliamentary Advisory Group, on what date each member of the Parliamentary Advisory Group was appointed; and what the attendance record of each member has been at meetings of that Group since their appointment.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that its Parliamentary Advisory Group is made up of politicians whose expertise it uses to help it consider a range of different issues. The group has no formal status so there is no specific date of appointment for Members. The minutes of each Advisory Group meeting, which includes a record of the attendance at each meeting, are published on the Commission’s website here:
	http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/our-work/who-we-are/governance-and-decision-making/parliamentary-advisory-group

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy Companies Obligation

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change for what reasons he deleted Question 10 in the current consultation exercise on the reductions in the size of the Energy Company Obligation; and what his policy is on the Obligation and its size after March 2017.

Gregory Barker: As stated on page 6 of the consultation document, the Government have confirmed that ECO is intended to be ambitious and long term, extending through at least until 2022. The precise shape of the obligation beyond 2017 will be consulted on in due course, and is not in scope of the current consultation exercise which focuses on the period through to 2017.
	The original question 10 was unclear, in that it requested views on the proposed ECO target in the obligation period to March 2017, but followed a series of specific questions (now questions 10, 11, 12 and 13 in the amended consultation document) seeking views on targets for each of the ECO sub-obligations in that period. As explained on the DECC website, the question was therefore removed in the interests of clarity and to avoid unnecessary repetition.

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that the renewable heat incentive scheme is targeted on households most in need of help with their energy bills.

Gregory Barker: The domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is targeted at, but not limited to, homes off the gas grid, which are more expensive to heat than those with mains gas. Households without mains gas have the most potential to save on their fuel bills and decrease their carbon emissions. The RHI is funded through general taxation rather than through a ‘green levy’ on energy bills.
	As well as homeowners, the domestic RHI is also open to social landlords and private landlords. Following the very successful renewable heat premium payment social landlords’ competitions, with over 4,200 installations to date, we expect to see significant take-up in the social housing sector.

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 81W, on solar power, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the solar industry regarding changes to the 250-5MW FiT band for the purpose of encouraging greater deployment of mid-size rooftop solar PV.

Gregory Barker: I have been in regular contact with representatives of the Solar Trade Association and British Photovoltaic Association over the last few months, in the lead-up to the publication on 4 April 2014 of the UK Government’s Solar Strategy, the first of its kind in Europe.
	I have discussed with the industry a range of options for removing the barriers to greater deployment of mid-scale building mounted solar PV. As set out in the strategy, we will be considering specific proposals for doing this in the coming months.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Exports

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to increase agricultural exports as part of the export-led recovery.

George Eustice: DEFRA and UKTI with industry are working together to increase exports in the agri-food sector. We launched a refreshed Exports Action plan last October. It commits us to deliver £500 million of value to the UK economy by supporting 1,000 companies by October 2015. Food and drink exports in 2013 reached £18.9 billion, against £18.2 billion in 2012, and are now 50% higher than 10 years ago. UKTI has established a dedicated team with civil servants and industry experts to improve the value and volume of inward investment and exports in agricultural technology. This team is working with UKTI posts overseas to help UK-based agri-technology companies succeed in international markets.

Air Pollution

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which key delivery partners his Department has met to inform a second consultation on local air quality management as mentioned in the Local Air Quality Management in England: Review-Summary of Responses and Government Reply.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA officials have met with lead officials at the Department for Transport and Greater London Authority, and, through the Regional Coordinators Group, local air quality practitioners and environmental health officers from across England. This group, which meets at least twice a year, includes representatives from other Government Departments and key stakeholders. We will continue to engage fully with these and other delivery partners to help inform our second consultation on revised regulations and guidance for local authorities.

Air Pollution

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Government have adopted a formal position on the EU air package; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: The Government welcome the European Commission’s Clean Air Package which was published on 18 December last year. The Commission has recently published several reports updating its impact assessment for the package, and we are in the process of analysing the proposals. The Government are committed to working with the Commission, the European Parliament and other member states to ensure the package is proportionate, deliverable and achievable.

Biodiversity

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to his Department's biodiversity offsetting schemes, what spatial constraints will be placed on the location of such schemes.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA is currently considering its policy options on offsetting which include what spatial constraints there might be on the location of offsets.
	These considerations are being made in light of feedback and evidence from several sources. These include our public consultation on biodiversity offsetting in England, the Environmental Audit Committee’s report and evidence from the six offsetting pilots.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he plans to take to ensure that the ongoing monitoring of the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire is independently scientifically evaluated.

George Eustice: DEFRA is currently working closely with Natural England and AHVLA to develop the detail of how the monitoring will be implemented, including auditing and evaluation procedures. The results and outcome of the monitoring of the pilot cull will be made publically available after they have been completed.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) the ongoing monitoring of the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire will be independent and (b) their effectiveness, humaneness and safety is based on rigorous scientific methodology.

George Eustice: Monitoring of compliance with licence conditions will continue to be carried out by the licensing authority, Natural England. AHVLA will continue to carry out post-mortem examinations of carcases. DEFRA is currently working closely with Natural England and AHVLA to develop the detail of how the monitoring will be implemented, including auditing and evaluation procedures.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to his statement of 3 April 2014, Official Report, columns 1034-7, on bovine TB, what the evidential basis is for the statement that about a third of badgers in TB hotspot areas are infected with TB.

George Eustice: The prevalence of M. bovis in badgers based on post-mortems and a subsequent analysis of the post-mortem protocol following the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) showed prevalence of around 33%.
	In the long-running study of badgers at Woodchester park TB prevalence in badgers has increased to over 30%.1
	In a separate study in Gloucestershire between 35% and 53% of badgers tested positive to a TB test.2
	1 Delahay et al. Epidemiol. Infect. (2013), 141, 1445-1456. Long-term temporal trends and estimated transmission rates for Mycobacterium bovis infection in an undisturbed high-density badger (Meles meles) population
	2 Carter SP, et al. (2012) PLoS ONE 7(12): e49833. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049833 BCG Vaccination Reduces Risk of Tuberculosis Infection in Vaccinated Badgers and Unvaccinated Badger Cubs.

Dredging and Cockle Fishing

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations his Department has received from bodies supporting (a) hydraulic dredging and (b) hand-raking methods of cockle fishing; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: In the last 12 months DEFRA has received two e-mails from two different individuals regarding cockle fishing methods. The correspondents asked for confirmation that the use of hydraulic dredging for cockle fishing is legal and to express their support for hand-raking methods of cockle fishing. Officials responded to both individuals and advised them to contact the local Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) which is responsible for managing the inshore area (1-6 nautical miles) around the English coast. Officials also made the local IFCA aware of both emails. In addition, I will be responding shortly to correspondence I have received expressing concerns on behalf of the commercial cockle fishermen from King’s Lynn, Norfolk.

Fisheries: Norfolk

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to (a) protect and (b) police the shell fisheries industry in the Wash area.

George Eustice: The shellfisheries in the Wash are managed by the Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) through a combination of the Wash Fishery Order 1992 Regulations and local IFCA Byelaws. This includes the introduction of closed seasons, gear restriction and the use of permits to control access to certain fisheries. This is in addition to EU and UK regulations. The IFCA officers also work closely with Marine Management Organisation officers on enforcement operations within the Wash area.

Fisheries: West Africa

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on renegotiating overseas fishing agreements with Guinea-Bissau and other countries along the West African coast.

George Eustice: The fisheries agreement between the European Union and Guinea-Bissau has been inactive since 2012 when the protocol was suspended due to political tensions in the country. I am unaware of any further discussion about this agreement since that time.
	At present, the EU has active fisheries agreements with the following countries in Western Africa: Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, São Tomé e Príncipe and Mauritania. In addition, there are a number of agreements which are currently dormant.
	The UK plays an active role within the EU when these agreements are negotiated. Our views are based on the following principles: that agreements allow EU fleets only to fish against genuinely surplus stocks; that best available scientific advice is taken into account to fish sustainably; that due consideration is given to human rights issues; and that agreements be financially beneficial to the EU and the third country in question, with sufficient controls in place to ensure funds received by third countries are used in appropriate ways. Furthermore, the UK also believes that the financial burden of agreements should be moved towards vessel operators, from the EU taxpayer, taking into account the profitability of the stock.

Flood Control

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many Environment Agency staff have been redeployed to inspect flood defence assets in each of the last five months.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency has 100 members of staff fully trained in asset inspection who have all been deployed in the last five months. Only trained staff are used to inspect assets.

Flood Control

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Government’s report into the condition of all flood defence assets following the winter floods will be published; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: The Government’s report into the condition of flood defence assets will be published when the results of the national assessment have been analysed by the Environment Agency. This is currently expected to be in May.

Floods

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2014, from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Official Report, column 1005, what assessment he has made of how the farming and forestry improvement scheme might help those affected by flooding.

George Eustice: The Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme was reviewed at the end of February and revised to offer support to rural businesses affected by flooding.
	The scheme now funds additional items, such as pumps, that will help businesses to become more resilient to future flooding. It also offers an increase in grant rates.
	Applications from those affected by flooding are being prioritised and the deadline for applications has been extended.

Forests

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress his Department has made in the development of the Woodland Carbon Code.

Dan Rogerson: The Woodland Carbon Code, developed by the Forestry Commission, was introduced in July 2011 following a pilot phase that began in September 2010. Subsequently, a group scheme has been launched to enable financial costs to be shared by participating schemes, alongside a shared responsibility for ensuring that Woodland Carbon Code requirements are met at all sites. In July 2013 the Code was launched on the Markit Environmental Registry to provide open and transparent project registration as well as Woodland Carbon Unit issuance, tracking and retirement. As of 31 March 2014, 202 projects covering an area of 15,401 hectares had registered with the Woodland Carbon Code, of which 67 projects had been validated.

Fracking

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which chemicals are authorised for use in the fracking process in the UK; what assessment he has made of the potential risk posed to humans and the natural environment from those chemicals before their authorisation; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency will require full disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.
	Operators will not be able to use chemicals for well stimulation unless the agency considers them acceptable for use. The Environment Agency will assess the hazards presented by fracking fluid additives on a case-by-case basis.
	Allowing the use of a chemical at one site does not automatically mean the agency will allow it to be used elsewhere. This is because the environmental risks may be different, for example, due to local geological conditions.

Private Sector

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by his Department since May 2010.

Dan Rogerson: Since May 2010, 202 core DEFRA staff have transferred to the private sector.

Water: Meters

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make it his policy that householders may choose a conventional or analogue water meter instead of a wireless smart water meter where their water supplier is rolling out water metering; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: Metering can be a fair way of charging for limited water resources. As circumstances are very different in different regions, the Government do not take a blanket approach to metering policy. In areas of serious water stress where there may not be enough water available to meet demand, a water company can include plans for metering all of their customers in their Water Resources Management Plan. In all other areas, household customers are entitled to have a meter installed free of charge by their water company on request, but cannot be required to have one fitted. The type of water meter to fit is a matter for the water company to decide.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Consultants

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

David Lidington: For the past financial year (2013-14) the 10 organisations paid most by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for consultancy and the associated spend figures were as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 Organisation For Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) 285,579.00 
			 DLA Piper UK LLP 148,283.34 
			 CBRE Ltd 103,412.14 
			 Field Fisher Waterhouse 52,940.75 
			 Fonnegra Gerlein S.A 50,745.43 
			 Samson And Mcgrath 34,136.41 
			 Accenture (UK) Ltd 29,892.00 
			 DTZ Consulting and Research 28,700.00 
			 Hogan Lovells International LLP 26,153.81 
			 Herbert Smith Freehills 21,061.27

HEALTH

Cerebral Palsy

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that children under the age of two years old who are diagnosed with cerebral palsy may be assessed for an education, health and care plan;
	(2)  how many children under the age of two years old have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many children aged between the ages of two and 18 years old have been diagnosed with cerebral palsy in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(4)  how many people have had a selective dorsal rhizotomy performed in NHS hospitals the latest period for which figures are available;
	(5)  what information his Department holds on how many people have had a selective dorsal rhizotomy in the UK in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(6)  how many people have had a selective dorsal rhizotomy paid for by the NHS in the latest period for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: Information concerning the number of Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) procedures that have been paid for by the national health service, performed in NHS hospitals or carried in the United Kingdom cannot be provided. In the OPCS Classification of Interventions and Procedures used in the NHS there is no coding for SDR and so this procedure cannot be identified in hospital episode statistics data. In addition to this, SDR is not currently routinely funded by the NHS in England following the publication of a single national policy in April 2013.
	Information concerning the number of people diagnosed with cerebral palsy is not collected. However, it is estimated that the condition affects three in 1,000 live births.
	Finally, NHS England's Paediatric Neurosciences (Neurology) service specification clearly defines what NHS England expects to be in place for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services for children with cerebral palsy. It ensures equity of access to a nationally consistent, high quality service for patients.
	This specification sets out that the optimal management of patients with neurological conditions improves health outcomes and can also help to minimise other, often detrimental, impacts on social, educational and employment activity. It also makes clear that the children in the care of paediatric neurology multi-disciplinary teams should have access to non-clinical staff, including: neuromuscular family care officers; hospital teachers; and, play therapists.

Cerebral Palsy

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to clarify the responsibilities of health services in ensuring the early clinical and educational intervention for children under two with cerebral palsy;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to clarify the responsibilities of health services in the identification of cerebral palsy in children under two years.

Daniel Poulter: Diagnosis of cerebral palsy can take time and there is no single test that confirms it or rules it out. In some cases, when a baby requires special care after being born, it may be possible for a confident diagnosis of cerebral palsy to be made relatively quickly. Other cases will be initially identified through routine screening and monitoring.
	We understand from NHS England that babies diagnosed with cerebral palsy have multi-disciplinary team surveillance and an action plan, which includes support with whatever service is needed, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy in the community, and regular follow up. Ongoing neurological problems are reviewed and referral to other specialists such as paediatric orthopaedic specialists made as necessary.
	Under the Children and Families Act 2014, health bodies identifying a 0-5 year old child with special educational need or disability must discuss this with the parent and bring the child to the attention of the local authority so they can consider whether an education health and care plan is needed. The Department is working with the Department for Education and NHS England to support health commissioners and clinicians to play their part in the special educational need reforms.

Cerebral Palsy

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what early screening protocols by specialist services and paediatricians are in place for children diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Daniel Poulter: Diagnosis of cerebral palsy can take time and there is no single test that confirms it or rules it out. In some cases, when a baby requires special care after being born, it may be possible for a confident diagnosis of cerebral palsy to be made relatively quickly. Other cases will be initially identified through routine screening and monitoring.
	We understand from NHS England that babies diagnosed with cerebral palsy have multi-disciplinary team surveillance and an action plan, which includes support with whatever service is needed, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy in the community, and regular follow up. Ongoing neurological problems are reviewed and referral to other specialists such as paediatric orthopaedic specialists made as necessary.

Employment Agencies

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.

Daniel Poulter: The following table provides information on the five companies most used by the Department in terms of the volume and value of purchase orders placed in 2012-13 for temporary (non-payroll) staff. The Department uses the Crown Commercial Services definition of contingent labour, which includes administrative and clerical, interim manager and specialist contractors.
	
		
			 Supplier Number of purchase orders raised in 2012-13 Purchase order value (£) 
			 Hays Specialist Recruitment Ltd 427 6,854,143.51 
			 Capita Resourcing Ltd 286 13,599,410.39 
			 Reed Specialist Recruitment Ltd 12 534,042.98 
			 Tate 9 400,522.00 
			 Quality Business Management Ltd 7 38,432.50 
			 Notes: 1. The purchase order value is calculated on the basis of total cost per hour/day which includes pay rate and other agency costs including agency fee. The agency fee is not recorded separately and as such it is not possible to calculate the total agency fees paid to each of the five suppliers without incurring disproportionate cost. 2. For information and for comparative purposes, the total staff costs, as shown in the Department's published resource accounts for 2012-13, were £258 million.

General Practitioners

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of patients who have been diagnosed via a telephone appointment with their GP in each of the last three years; and how many such diagnoses have (a) resulted in sending a prescription without a face-to-face appointment and (b) needed a face-to-face appointment at a later date.

Daniel Poulter: The requested information is not collected centrally.
	Although there are no specific national requirements on telephone consultations, general practitioners (GPs) must act in accordance with the good practice guidance from the General Medical Council and should apply the same standards of quality they would for a face to face consultation. When undertaking a consultation over the telephone, GPs should only provide a diagnosis or prescription drugs or treatment where it is clinically safe and appropriate.

Health Services

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 3 April 2014, Official Report, columns 792-3W, on health services, what is meant by the statement in that answer that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) commissioning resources page signposts to NICE products of value to commissioners, including NICE pathways, referral advice, cost savings, NICE do not do recommendations database, social value judgments and the NICE field team; and what steps his Department takes to ensure that written answers to parliamentary questions are in comprehensible English.

Jane Ellison: The Department makes every effort to ensure that answers to parliamentary questions can be readily understood, and to respond to any requests for clarification.
	The statement,
	“(the) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) commissioning resources page signposts to NICE products of value to commissioners, including NICE pathways, referral advice, cost savings, NICE ‘do not do’ recommendations database, social value judgments and the NICE field team”
	describes the range of information which can be accessed from the NICE commissioning resources webpage. This information can be used by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to support their efforts to commission high quality services for patients.
	A more detailed description of each of these resources follows:
	‘NICE pathways’ is a website which brings together all relevant NICE recommendations, quality standards and commissioning advice for each clinical topic or condition;
	The NICE ‘referral advice’ recommendations database contains current advice on primary-to-secondary care referral from all NICE'S guidance products, including clinical guidelines, cancer service guidance and public health guidance;
	The NICE list of cost-saving guidance contains a list of recommendations from NICE guidance that may either deliver savings or free up resources and capacity that can be used for other-services;
	The NICE ‘do not do’ recommendations database identifies clinical practices that NICE recommends should be discontinued completely in the NHS, or not used routinely;
	The NICE publication ‘Social value judgments’ describes the principles that NICE follows in developing its guidance and processes; and
	The ‘NICE field team’ is a team of consultants who work with local NHS organisations to support implementation of NICE'S guidance.
	Further details of these resources can be found at:
	www.nice.org.uk/usingguidance/implementationtools/howtoguide/nicesupportforcommissioners.jsp

Hospices: Children

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will extend the current transitional funding arrangements for children's hospices to support the sector during the change to the per-patient funding system for children's hospices beyond 2015.

Norman Lamb: We have committed to continuing the annual grant of over £10 million, allocated by NHS England, while they and Monitor develop a per-patient funding system to ensure that from 2015 hospice services can be funded locally on an equitable and transparent basis. No decision has been made on an extension of the grant beyond 2015.
	It will be important that there is a smooth and managed transition from the current system to the new payment system.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many patients were on a waiting list for one of the 15 key diagnostic tests in January in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of patients waited 13 weeks or longer for one of the 15 key diagnostic tests in January in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many and what proportion of patients waited six weeks or longer for one of the 15 key diagnostic tests in January in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The information is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Table to show the number and proportion of patients waiting for diagnostic tests in January for each of the last five years 
			  Total number of patients waiting at month end Total number of patients waiting13 weeks or longer Proportion of patients waiting 13 weeks or longer (percentage) Total number of patients waiting six weeks or longer Proportion of patients waiting six weeks or longer (percentage) Total January activity for the 15 key diagnostic tests 
			 January 2010 486,101 599 0.1 7,080 1.5 1,145,244 
			 January 2011 527,390 802 0.2 11,363 2.2 1,240,157 
			 January 2012 583,257 792 0.1 8,973 1.5 1,370,595 
			 January 2013 633,102 1,224 0.2 8,308 1.3 1,487,229 
			 January 2014 732,840 1,197 0.2 13,335 1.8 1,595,250 
			 Source: Monthly Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity—NHS England

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether patient records from private healthcare providers will be extracted as part of care.data.

Daniel Poulter: The Health and Social Care Act 2012 empowers the Health and Social Care Information Centre to require organisations providing care funded by the national health service to submit data to it when directed by the Secretary of State for Health or by NHS England. This does not extend to private providers unless they are providing NHS care.

Medical Records: Internet

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to allow people to view their medical records online; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England has outlined the steps it will use to drive the use of information and technology in the national health service (NHS) in the published plan, ‘Putting Patients First: Business plan 2014-15 to 2016-17’.
	By March 2015, NHS patients will have the opportunity of online access to their medical records from 95% of general practitioner practices.
	A copy has been placed in the Library.

Neuromuscular Disorders: Leicester

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he has made on providing consultant support in Leicester for people with muscular dystrophy and neuromuscular conditions; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised services, including neuromuscular services.
	In July 2013, NHS England published the service specification Neurosciences: Specialised Neurology (Adult). This describes the service to be commissioned by NHS England for patients with a neuromuscular disorder.
	We are advised that NHS England commissions specialist consultant-led neuromuscular services for the east midlands from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
	The hon. Member may wish to approach the NHS England Leicestershire and Lincolnshire Area Team for further information.

Palliative Care

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the potential (a) cost and (b) savings to (i) the NHS and (ii) local authorities of supporting more people to die in their preferred place.

Norman Lamb: The Department has made no specific assessment of the potential cost and savings to the NHS and local authorities of supporting people to die in their preferred place.
	However, Public Health England, in its report ‘What we know now 2013’, published in November 2013, detailed a series of studies undertaken by both independent and NHS organisations looking into the costs of deaths in hospitals against deaths in usual place of residence. The report is available at:
	www.endoflifecare-intelligence.org.uk/resources/publications/what_we_know_now_2013
	The Government are committed to extending patient choice in end of life care, and a review will be looking into this issue this year.

Private Sector

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by his Department since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The Department's central procurement system does not have a separate category for business process outsourcing (private companies delivering services previously provided by the public sector), nor any central means of consistently identifying outsourced services.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many rejections of asylum seekers, by country of origin, there have been in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many asylum seekers there were, by country of origin, in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many asylum seekers, by country of origin, have been waiting for a decision on their application for asylum for (a) one and (b) more than five years.

James Brokenshire: Figures for asylum applications for main applicants, by nationality, from 2009 to 2013 are published in Table as_01 (Asylum data tables Volume 1) in the release Immigration Statistics.
	The number of asylum applications from main applicants pending an initial decision, by nationality, for (a) more than one year and (b) more than five years, as at the end of 2013, can be found in the table, “Asylum application from main applicants pending an initial decision as at 31 December 2013” which I will place in the House Library.
	These figures are a subset of those also published in Table as_01 (Asylum data tables Volume 1) of the release Immigration Statistics.
	Figures for asylum applications from main applicants refused a grant of asylum, humanitarian protection, discretionary leave or other grants of leave, at initial decision, by nationality, from 2009 to 2013 are published in Table as_01 (Asylum data tables Volume 1) of the release Immigration Statistics.
	The latest release Immigration Statistics October to December 2013 is available from
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2013
	and from the Library of the House.
	Asylum data tables volume 1 is available from
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283693/asylum1-q4-2013-tabs.ods

Asylum: Repatriation

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department's total budget for assisted voluntary returns projects is for the current financial year, and what has been the total budget for such projects in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is shown below.
	
		
			 Financial year Total spending on assisted voluntary returns programmes (£ million) 
			 2009-10 20.5 
			 2010-11 17.4 
			 2011-12 7.5 
			 2012-13 8.9 
			 2013-14 8.6 
			 2014-15 10.8 
		
	
	The figures quoted relate to the UK Assisted Voluntary Return Programme, and the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Programmes operated in Greece and Turkey.
	The figures for years 2009-10 to 2013-14 relate to actual spend and the figures for 2014-15 are projected spend.
	The Home Office also receives funding from the European Union for the UK Assisted Voluntary Return programme. Due to a change in financial reporting the amounts for 2011-12 onwards are shown net of the amounts received or expected from this source, while the amounts for 2009-10 and 2010-11 are shown gross although the yearly total budget allocation remains broadly the same.
	The Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Programmes in Greece and Turkey also receive funding from the British Government’s Return and Reintegration Fund. The figures quoted incorporate this funding stream.
	The figures provided are sourced from a Home Office management information system and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office which is not quality assured under National Statistics protocols and is subject to change due to internal data quality checking. Figures provided from this source do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.

Convictions

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Act 2004 in each of the last four years.

James Brokenshire: The following table provides the number of defendants proceeded against for offences under Section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 in England and Wales from 2009 to 2012.
	
		
			 Defendants proceeded against for offences under Section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 in England and Wales, 2009 to 20121 
			     Magistrates Courts The Crown Court 
			  Act Section Offence description Proceeded against Found guilty For trial Found guilty 
			 2009 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(1)(5) Trafficking people into the UK for the purpose of exploitation 13 0 2 2 
			 2009 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(2)(5) Trafficking people within the UK for the purpose of exploitation 11 0 0 0 
			 2009 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(3)(5) Trafficking people out of the UK for the purpose of exploitation 0 0 0 0 
			 2010 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(1)(5) Trafficking people into the UK for the purpose of exploitation 4 0 10 5 
			 2010 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(2)(5) Trafficking people within the UK for the purpose of exploitation 3 0 2 1 
			 2010 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(3)(5) Trafficking people out of the UK for the purpose of exploitation 0 0 0 0 
			 2011 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(1)(5) Trafficking people into the UK for the purpose of exploitation 11 0 5 1 
			 2011 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(2)(5) Trafficking people within the UK for the purpose of exploitation 6 0 8 0 
			 2011 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(3)(5) Trafficking people out of the UK for the purpose of exploitation 0 0 0 0 
			 2012 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(1)(5) Trafficking people into the UK for the purpose of exploitation 8 0 6 2 
			 2012 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(2)(5) Trafficking people within the UK for the purpose of exploitation 7 0 4 0 
		
	
	
		
			 2012 Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 4(3)(5) Trafficking people out of the UK for the purpose of exploitation 2 0 0 0 
			 1 Where a defendant is prosecuted for one or more non-immigration offences and one or more immigration offences the offence recorded is the principal immigration offence. Source: Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	The statistics on defendants proceeded against for offences under Immigration Acts 1971 to 2007 in England and Wales are supplied by the Ministry of Justice for the Home Office to publish annually within Immigration Statistics. Annual data are available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: October December 2013, table pr_01, from the Library of the House and from the gov.uk website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2013

Convictions

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 145 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 in each of the last four years.

James Brokenshire: The table below provides the number of defendants proceeded against for offences under section 145 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 in England and Wales from 2009-12.
	
		
			 Defendants proceeded against for offences under section 145 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 in England and Wales, 2009-121, 2 
			     Magistrates courts The Crown court 
			  Act Section Offence description Proceeded against Found guilty For trial Found guilty 
			 2009 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 145 Trafficking in prostitution 0 0 0 0 
			 2010 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 145 Trafficking in prostitution 0 0 1 1 
			 2011 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 145 Trafficking in prostitution 0 0 0 0 
			 2012 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 145 Trafficking in prostitution 0 0 0 0 
			 1 ‘Section 145’: Repealed and replaced by sections 57-58 of the Sexual Offenders Act 2003. 2 Where a defendant is prosecuted for one or more non-immigration offences, and one or more immigration offences, the offence recorded is the principal immigration offence. Source: Ministry of Justice. 
		
	
	The statistics on defendants proceeded against for offences under Immigration Acts 1971 to 2007 in England and Wales are supplied by the Ministry of Justice for the Home Office to publish annually within immigration statistics. Annual data is available in the latest release, Immigration Statistics: October—December 2013, table pr_01, from the Library of the House and from the gov.uk website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2013

Crime

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to ensure police officers record all crimes they deal with.

Damian Green: It is vital that recorded crime statistics are as robust as they can possibly be, and the Government have a strong record on reinforcing their independence and accountability.
	The Home Office transferred responsibility for publishing them to the Independent Office for National Statistics and have made more crime data available to the public on street-level crime maps. The Secretary of State for the Home Department has also written to chief constables emphasising that the police must ensure that crimes are recorded accurately and honestly. Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary is inspecting the quality of crime recording in every force in England and Wales, and will report back later this year. We look forward to the interim report this month.

Crime

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of crimes reported in a police station in each year since May 2010.

Norman Baker: The requested information is not held centrally. The Home Office holds data on offences recorded by the police.

Crimes of Violence: Foreign Nationals

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of violent crimes were committed by non-British nationals in 2013.

Norman Baker: The Home Office does not hold data on the nationality of offenders, and so cannot provide data on the number of crimes committed by non-British nationals that were recorded by police.
	The Ministry of Justice collects details on the number of offenders and offender characteristics, but does not collect information on the number of offences that these offenders commit.

Domestic Violence

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will introduce specialist-led training for police services in England and Wales on domestic violence and coercive control.

Damian Green: The College of Policing sets standards of training for police officers and staff in this important area of policing. Subject matter experts are already used in developing training and delivery into forces, ranging from initial training through to specialist training for senior investigating officers.

Domestic Violence

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there are any plans to create a legal framework which criminalises patterns of coercive control.

Norman Baker: Domestic abuse is a crime and we already have a framework which covers coercive control.
	There is a range of existing offences for which a perpetrator of domestic violence can be prosecuted, including common assault.
	Coercive control can amount to common assault where the perpetrator, via their words or actions, intentionally or recklessly causes another to fear unlawful or immediate violence. In sentencing, the courts can also take into account as aggravating factors a range of features which are common in domestic violence cases, such as the vulnerability of the victim, the repeated nature of the assaults and abuse of power by the perpetrator.
	Last September, the Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to conduct a review of the response to domestic abuse across all police forces. The inspectorate published its findings in March 2014. It emphasises that the key priority is a culture change in the police so that domestic violence and abuse is treated as the crime that it is and the police use the full range of tools already available to them.
	The Home Secretary will chair a national oversight group to oversee delivery against each of HMIC’s recommendations on which I will also sit.

Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of (a) domestic and (b) sexual abuse were reported by victims attending a police station in each year since May 2010.

Norman Baker: The requested information is not held centrally. The Home Office holds data on offences recorded by the police.

Driving Offences: Motorways

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  with reference to the 2013 edition of the Highway Code, paragraph 264, what guidance her Department has given to motorway police on enforcement of the requirement that drivers overtaking a number of slower-moving vehicles should return to the left-hand lane as soon as they are safely past; what the maximum penalty is for a driver not complying with that requirement; and on how many occasions in the last 24 months (a) warnings have been given to such drivers, (b) enforcement procedures have been instigated against such drivers and (c) such drivers have been prosecuted for related road traffic offences;
	(2)  what guidance her Department has given to motorway police on advising (a) vehicles without all-round screen vision and (b) public service vehicles carrying passengers of (i) up to 3.5, (ii) between 3.5 and 7.5 and (iii) over 7.5 tonnes maximum laden weight against entering or travelling in, or preventing such vehicles entering or travelling in, the right-hand overtaking lane of a three or more lane motorway; and which last edition of the Highway Code included advice on these matters.

Damian Green: The Home Office has not issued any guidance and does not hold any information on the enforcement of lane discipline. Enforcement of the law is an operational matter for the police.

Entry Clearances

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the number of people who have overstayed their approved visa to be in the UK by (a) up to six months, (b) six months to one year, (c) more than one year and (d) more than three years as at 31 March 2014.

James Brokenshire: It is not possible to accurately quantify the number of immigration offenders in the UK as, by their very nature, those that deliberately evade immigration control to enter and stay in the country illegally are not officially recorded until they come to light and are arrested.
	The Immigration Bill will provide new powers to implement exit checks, which the last Labour Government scrapped in 1998. This will allow the Home Office to screen those who leave the UK to identify threats and persons of interest to Border Force, immigration enforcement and other law enforcement bodies, and to enable an appropriate response.
	The Home Office continues to prevent abuse, pursue offenders and increase compliance with immigration law—our immigration compliance and enforcement teams across the UK target illegal migrants who have no right to live and work in the community.
	The Immigration Bill will stop migrants using public services to which they are not entitled, reduce the factors which encourage people to come to the UK and make it easier to remove people who should not be here.

Entry Clearances

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time is between the expiry of a visa and (a) the person voluntarily leaving the country and (b) the forcible removal of the visa holder.

James Brokenshire: The information requested is not available.

Entry Clearances

Margaret Beckett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many family visit visa applications to the UK were made between June 2013 and December 2013; and how many such applications were (a) granted, (b) refused, (c) withdrawn, (d) lapsed and (e) given the right to appeal.

James Brokenshire: From the 1 of June until the 31 of December 2013 there were 149,995 applications for family visit visas. Of those applications:
	111,990 were issued
	37,370 were refused
	65 were lapsed
	330 were withdrawn
	4,570 were given the right to appeal
	These figures are based upon management information, and have been rounded to the nearest five. Until the 24 June 2013, any family visit visa that was refused was given a right of appeal against that decision. The numbers above reflect this change to appeal rights.

Entry Clearances

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used to decide in which countries to have UK consular and visa offices.

James Brokenshire: Decisions regarding the location of our visa application centres, and the places in which the applications are decided, are based on a number of different factors, including geography, security issues, distribution of demand, political and economic impacts, as well as the financial cost. The Home Office uses commercial partners to help run its network of visa application centres, which are the customer-facing end of the service. Under new contracts which came into effect on 1 April 2014, we will have 340 visa application points in 142 countries around the world. Applications submitted at visa application centres are then sent to one of our 32 decision-making hubs for consideration.
	On the consular side, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) supports British nationals through the diplomatic network of 220 posts around the world, in 170 countries. They also have a network of 230 honorary consuls who provide support in places where the UK is not otherwise represented. Having consular partners present in countries where the UK is not represented ensures British nationals have immediate access to assistance. There are only three countries in the world where there is no in country consular representation by the UK or any of our main consular partners (EU, Australia, Canada, US or New Zealand).
	These are Palau, Sao Tome & Principe and Tuvalu. In these cases, UK Travel Advice instructs British nationals to seek assistance when needed through the nearest country with British diplomatic representation: Philippines, Angola and Fiji respectively. The FCO currently advise against all travel to Syria and warn British nationals who travel there that the FCO will not be able to provide them with any assistance. The FCO also advise against all but essential travel to Iran and advise British nationals to seek assistance from any EU member state present in the country.

Entry Clearances: Israel

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Israeli citizens were found to be working in the UK without an appropriate visa in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The following table gives the number of Israeli nationals arrested on illegal working type enforcement visits from 2009 to 2013.
	
		
			 Table 1: Israeli nationals arrested on illegal working type enforcement visits, 2009 to 2013 
			  Arrests 
			 2009 46 
			 2010 43 
			 2011 1 
			 2012 0 
			 2013 7 
			 Total 97

Entry Clearances: Lesotho

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from Lesotho applied for UK visas in each of the last 12 years.

James Brokenshire: The available information is given in the following table:
	
		
			 Entry clearance visa applications: Lesotho nationals 
			 2005 144 
			 2006 178 
			 2007 90 
			 2008 79 
			 2009 268 
			 2010 360 
			 2011 331 
			 2012 246 
			 2013 279 
			 Source: Table be_03, Before Entry Volume 2 tables, Immigration Statistics October-December 2013 
		
	
	The latest Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visa applications (by nationality) are published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics release, which is available from the Library of the House and on the Department’s website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

Illegal Immigrants: Employment

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what total amount of fines has been (a) levied and (b) collected under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 for employment of illegal workers in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: The civil penalty scheme to prevent illegal working was introduced in the Immigration Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (2006 Act), and came into effect in February 2008.
	Before 2010, the average value of penalties collected under the scheme was 14%. Since 2010, the average value of penalties collected has been 45%. The information requested is in the following table. The figures are based on the number of civil penalties served at visited business addresses.
	Please note the figures are for penalties levied at the initial decision stage which may be reduced, cancelled, increased or reissued at the objection or appeal stage.
	Please also note that the collection figures are not cohort based statistics and therefore do not represent payment against penalties issued in a particular year.
	
		
			   £ million 
			 Financial years Value of initial penalties issued Value of penalties collected 
			 2008-2009 16.7 1.3 
			 2009-2010 23.2 4.4 
			 2010-2011 17.1 6.9 
			 2011-2012 11.4 6.5 
			 2012-2013 10.8 6.3 
			 2013-2014 up to 28 February 2014 15.6 5.2

Immigration

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of workers made unemployed, or displaced, as a result of immigration from countries outside the EU in the last year.

James Brokenshire: The Government commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to
	“research the labour market, social and public service impacts of non-EEA migration; and to advise on the use of such evidence in cost-benefit analyses of migration policy decisions”.
	The MAC’s report published in 2012 called “Analysis of the Impact of Migration”, available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/257235/analysis-of-the-impacts.pdf
	suggested that
	“between 1995 and 2010 an additional 100 non-EU migrants were associated with a reduction in employment of 23 native workers”.
	Recently, the Government published a report on the “Impacts of migration on UK native employment: An analytical review of the evidence”, available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287086/occ109.pdf
	This report is a comprehensive review of the evidence around the displacement effect of migrants on UK native employment and builds on the MAC 2012 report.
	In addition, a report on the “Employment and Occupational skill levels among UK and foreign nationals” available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/282503/occ108.pdf
	finds that over most of the last decade, employment levels in the UK rose faster among foreign nationals than among UK nationals. However, this pattern has reversed, and over the last year around 90% of employment growth was accounted for by UK nationals.

Immigration

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration reconsideration cases have been outsourced to Capita Business Services; what payment Capita Business Services receives to process these cases; which country these cases are processed in; and what targets she has set Capita Business Services for that work.

James Brokenshire: Capita has been contracted to deliver contact management and casework services for the Home Office. The initial target is for 50,000 casework outcomes to be delivered, which includes responding to requests for reconsideration.
	Disclosure of payment information would result in commercially sensitive information being placed in the public domain and could jeopardise the effective use of public money by undermining further contractual negotiations.
	Capita process all of work under this contract in the United Kingdom.
	Capita are currently delivering a phased mobilisation of casework services in a model office environment, to build up capacity and refine processes. The contract requires Capita to deliver the first 50,000 casework outcomes within nine months of completing model office and moving into full delivery under the contract.

Police

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have received (a) redundancy payments and (b) pension enhancements since 2010; and what the cost of each such type of payment is.

Damian Green: The Home Office does not hold this information.
	Decisions regarding the award and administration of both redundancy and pension payments to police officers are made locally in accordance with the appropriate police regulations. It is the responsibility of chief constables, working with police and crime commissioners, to ensure that they manage their resources appropriately to deliver value for money to the public.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was claimed by police and crime commissioners in expenses in 2013-14.

Damian Green: The Home Office does not collect data on expenses claimed by police and crime commissioners (PCCs).
	Under paragraph 1 (d) of schedule 1 of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) Order 2011, PCCs are obliged to publish
	“the allowances paid to each relevant office holder in respect of expenses incurred by the office holder in the exercise of the body’s functions”.
	Article 1(2) of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) Order 2011, PCCs defines “relevant office holder” as, where the elected local policing body is a police and crime commissioner, the commissioner and any deputy police and crime commissioner appointed by the commissioner.

Police Custody: Young People

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the code governing detention of teenagers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act will be redrafted to ensure that 17 year olds in custody are treated as teenagers by the police.

Damian Green: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by the Minister for Modern Slavery and Organised Crime of 8 April 2014, Official Report, column 202W.

Police Custody: Young People

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many 17 year olds have been held in police custody in the UK in each year since 2010.

Damian Green: This information is not held centrally.

Police: Bureaucracy

Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken in the last 12 months to reduce the burden of administration for the police.

Damian Green: This Government have acted so that the police focus on fighting crime and not processing paperwork. Our work which has already taken place to reduce bureaucracy could see up to 4.5 million hours of police time saved across all forces every year-the equivalent of over 2,100 officers back on the beat.
	In the last 12 months we have established the Police Innovation Fund to support innovative delivery approaches to policing and free up officer time to fight crime. We have extended the use of police-led prosecutions, reducing bureaucracy for officers dealing with high-volume offences. We have also introduced an improved approach to dealing with missing people so resources are deployed more intelligently.
	We are producing digital case files to improve file build and reduce paperwork and we are supporting all forces to develop digital solutions so officers can submit information via mobile devices and not have to return to the station to fill in forms.

Procurement

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what proportion of business awarded under Framework Contract RM1568 was awarded to businesses on Capita's prime supplier list; and what the value of that business was;
	(2)  what proportion of business awarded under Framework Contract RM1568 was awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises; and what the value of that business was.

Francis Maude: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	25% of business from contract start to the end of January 2014 was invoiced to Capita and their prime supplier list. The value of this expenditure is £9,893,960.
	On SMEs, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) won 64% of awards from the start of the contract to the end of January 2014. We do not hold breakdown by value.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Palace of Westminster: Police

John McDonnell: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the police staff turnover rates have been at SO17 Palace of Westminster over the last 10 years.

John Thurso: The turnover for police staff (security officers) at SO17 Palace of Westminster since the start of the current contract in April 2010 is as follows:
	April 2010 to March 2011: 5.1%
	April 2011 to March 2012: 3.2%
	April 2012 to March 2013: 7.6%
	April 2013 to March 2014: 7.6%
	These figures are provided by SO17 and were calculated by dividing the number of leavers every year by the total number of staff. I understand that data for previous years could only be derived from manual records and are not readily available.

Palace of Westminster: Police

John McDonnell: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many police officers have been employed in office-based roles in SO17 Palace of Westminster in each of the last 10 years.

John Thurso: The number of police officers employed in office-based roles in SO17 Palace of Westminster since the start of the current contract in April 2010 is as follows:
	April 2010 to March 2011: 7
	April 2011 to March 2012: 7
	April 2012 to March 2013: 8
	April 2013 to March 2014: 9
	At the start of 2013-14 there were 164 police officers and 356 security officers in SO17. These figures are provided by SO17. I understand that data for previous years could only be derived from manual records and are not readily available.

Palace of Westminster: Police

John McDonnell: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many police officer managers have been deployed at SO17 Palace of Westminster in each of the last 10 years.

John Thurso: The average number of police officer managers, defined as Chief Superintendent, Superintendent, Chief Inspector, Inspector and Sergeant, deployed at SO17 Palace of Westminster since the start of the current contract in April 2010 is as follows:
	April 2010 to March 2011: 20
	April 2011 to March 2012: 21
	April 2012 to March 2013: 19
	April 2013 to March 2014: 21
	The numbers vary from month to month so the figures above are rounded averages for the 12 month periods shown. At the start of 2013-14 there were 164 police officers and 356 security officers in SO17.
	These figures are provided by SO17. Data for previous years could only be derived from manual records and are not readily available.

JUSTICE

Convictions

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to section 170 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 in relation to goods prohibited to be imported under section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act 1876 in each of the last four years.

Jeremy Wright: Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the Court Proceedings Database does not include the circumstances behind each case beyond the description provided in the statute. It is not possible to separately identify from this centrally held information offences under Section 170 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 relating to prohibited goods under Section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act 1876 from offences of prohibited goods relating to other statutes. This detailed information may be held on the court record but due to the size and complexity is not reported centrally to the MOJ. As such, the information requested can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Convictions

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to sections 126 to 129 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in each of the last four years.

Jeremy Wright: The number of offenders found guilty of offences under Sections 127 and 128 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2012 (latest data available) can be viewed in the table. There have been no findings of guilt recorded under section 129 in this time period.
	Court proceedings data for 2013 are planned for publication in May 2014.
	Data for offences under section 126 of the Mental Health Act 1983 cannot be separately analysed from other offences under other statutes. This information is held by the individual courts in England and Wales but could only be separately identified at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Offenders found guilty at all courts for offences under the Mental Health Act 1983, England and Wales, 2008-121, 2. 
			 Section of Act 20083 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 S1274 4 - - 1 11 
		
	
	
		
			 S1285 - - - 2 - 
			 ‘-’ = Nil 1 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 3 Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. 4 Describes offences of ill-treatment of patients. 5 Describes offences of assisting patients to absent themselves without leave etc. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

Deportation

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 31 March 2014, Official Report, columns 532-3W, on prisoners: foreign nationals, what the main features of the Early Removal Scheme are; how many foreign national offenders were deported under this scheme in each of the last five years; and what the main features are of the Tariff Expired Removal scheme.

Jeremy Wright: Under the Early Removal scheme (ERS), Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) who are going to be deported or removed by Immigration Enforcement can be removed from prison and the UK up to a maximum of 270 days before their normal release date. This enables their removal earlier than would otherwise be possible, but only after a minimum of half the requisite custodial period has been served in prison in the UK.
	The Tariff Expired Removal scheme (TERS) enables FNOs with life or indeterminate sentences to be removed from the UK using a deportation order once they have completed their minimum tariff period set by the sentencing court. Since its introduction in May 2012, 240 prisoners have been removed under this mechanism (as of April 17 2014).
	Those removed subject to a deportation order cannot legally return to the UK. If they do come back in breach of their deportation order this is a criminal offence. They would also be liable to immediate arrest and return to prison to complete the outstanding part of the sentence they would have served had they not been removed early.
	The numbers removed under ERS in each of the last four years are:
	
		
			  ERS removals 
			 2010 1741 
			 2011 1672 
			 2012 1974 
		
	
	
		
			 2013 1968 
		
	
	We are unable to provide data for the 2009 period. Since 2010 the Home Office have used one system to report on their data. This was not in place in 2009 therefore figures arising from this period may be inconsistent.

Manchester Prison

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many packages of books delivered to HM Prison Manchester were found to contain drugs in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: Prisons employ a range of measures to detect, disrupt and deter the trafficking of drugs into prisons. This is particularly the case at HMP Manchester which is a High Security prison. Over the last 5 years there have been 53 recorded attempts to smuggle drugs into Manchester by post-all were in letters.
	In common with many other prisons, HMP Manchester does not allow books to be sent direct to prisoners in packages because of the ease with which illicit items may be concealed. As such there have been no recorded incidents of drugs been sent in packages of books over the last 5 years. Prisoners may order books through the prison from approved suppliers and can borrow books from the prison library.

Prisoners' Release

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) male and (b) female prisoners were released on temporary licence by way of (i) resettlement day release, (ii) resettlement overnight release and (iii) childcare resettlement in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: Table 1 presents the number of individuals who were granted each of these temporary licence (ROTL) release types, broken down by gender, for 2012, which is the latest year for which published figures are available.
	An individual prisoner can have a number of different types of ROTL over a period of time. Where an individual received more than one type of ROTL within the year, this individual has been counted once under each type received. Therefore there will be some individuals who are counted more than once in the table presented.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of individuals granted ROTL, by licence type and gender, 2012 
			  Type of licence1 2012 
			 Males Resettlement Day Release 9,869 
			  Resettlement Overnight Release 4,321 
			  Childcare Resettlement 3 
			  Not recorded 0 
			    
		
	
	
		
			 Females Resettlement Day Release 635 
			  Resettlement Overnight Release 483 
			  Childcare Resettlement 111 
			  Not recorded 0 
			 1 Where an individual received more than one type of ROTL within the year, this individual has been counted once under each type received. Therefore the sum across all types of licence does equate to the total number of unique individuals who were granted at least one instance of any type of ROTL within the year. Sources: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisoners: Nigeria

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the UK Government have agreed to provide the Government of Nigeria in financial support as part of the prisoner transfer agreement with the country signed on 9 January 2014; and what the benefits for the UK are of that agreement.

Jeremy Wright: We are currently in discussion about supporting further projects that will assist Nigeria to improve their prisons and build the capacity they need to receive prisoners from the UK under the compulsory prisoner transfer agreement we signed in January this year. To date the cross-Government Migration Fund has funded refurbishment works at Kiri Kiri women’s prison in Lagos, and supported a project aimed at increasing access to justice for remand prisoners to tackle the issue of congestion within the Nigerian prison estate.
	The prisoner transfer process is just one mechanism for removing foreign national offenders (FNOs). All FNOs sentenced to custody are referred to the Home Office to be considered for deportation at the earliest possible opportunity. The number of FNOs deported under the Early Removal Scheme (ERS) has increased under this Government with nearly 2,000 FNOs removed in 2013. Under the Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) which we introduced in May 2012, we have removed 243 FNOs (at 23 April 2014).
	Whereas this Government has begun to reduce the foreign national population in prison since 2010, between 1997 and 2010, the number of foreign nationals in our prisons more than doubled.

Prisoners: Suicide

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many inmates committed suicide in prison between 2010 and 2013.

Jeremy Wright: The number of self-inflicted deaths in each year is published in the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. The latest bulletin was published on 24 April and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics
	We are working hard to manage the levels of self-harm in prison and are carefully investigating the rise in self-inflicted deaths.
	We are providing further resources and support to prisons to help support their safer custody work.

Prisons: Mother and Baby Units

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many places are available in mother and baby units in the custodial estate in England and Wales.

Simon Hughes: There is currently space for 64 mothers and 70 babies in mother and baby units in the custodial estate within England and Wales, which allows for multiple births.

Prisons: Publications

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners borrowed books from (a) HM Prison Belmarsh and (b) HM Prison Brixton in (i) January and (ii) February 2014; and what proportion of the prison population in each prison this represents.

Jeremy Wright: The information is not held centrally by the Ministry of Justice and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Publications

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent representations he has received from organisations concerned about the inclusion of books in the Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme; and what assessment his Department has made of the effect the inclusion of books in that scheme will have on prisoner rehabilitation.

Jeremy Wright: There have always been controls on the sending of parcels into prisons, and allowing parcels to be sent in unrestricted would be operationally unmanageable and would lead to a significant risk of drugs and other illicit items being smuggled into prisons.
	We have always recognised the importance of reading and literature in the rehabilitative process, and the positive effects this has on prisoners’ welfare. The National Offender Management Service works closely with schemes such as the Shannon Trust reading network, which includes peer mentoring to improve reading levels.
	The Howard League for Penal Reform, English PEN and Liberty have made representations concerning prisoner access to books. There have been no changes in the availability of books in prisons. Every prison has a library, to which every prisoner has access. Up to 12 books may be held by prisoners in their cell at any one time and additional volumes may be stored locally at the prison.

Probation: South West

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how long it took to merge Avon and Somerset Probation Services.

Jeremy Wright: Avon and Somerset Probation Trust, which was established on 1 April 2010, replaced the Avon and Somerset Probation Board, which had been created on 1 April 2001 following the merger of the two separate probation committees for Avon and for Somerset.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Consultants

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by her Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

Theresa Villiers: During 2013-14, my Department only used one consultancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, who were paid £1,620.

Employment Agencies

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for her Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.

Theresa Villiers: My Department used four companies to provide temporary workers during the 2013-14 financial year; their names and the amounts paid to them for the provision of temporary staff are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			 G4S 236,685 
			 Premier People 63,513 
			 Hays 22,742 
			 Networkers International 5,189

Stationery

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what levels of stock her Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

Theresa Villiers: The following tables set out the current stock levels of stationery, printer cartridges, treasury tags and other fasteners and other office consumables held in my Department across the three locations at 1 Horse Guards Road, London; Stormont House, Belfast; and Hillsborough Castle.
	
		
			 Table 1: Stationery items 
			 Product Quantity 
			 Erasers 1 box 
			 Staplers 5 
			 Scotch Magic Tape rolls 6 
			 Stamp pads 3 
			 AAA Batteries 6 packs 
			 Envelopes, various sizes 16 boxes 
			 Paper clips 7 boxes 
			 Black pens 6 boxes and 131 loose 
			 Blue pens 2 box and 7 loose 
			 Post-it notes 41 packs 
		
	
	
		
			 Highlighter pens 9 packs and 8 loose 
			 Printer paper 13 Boxes 
			 A4 ring binders 4 boxes 
			 Lever arch files 1 box and 37 loose 
			 File dividers 15 packs 
			 Pencils 2 boxes 
			 Red pens 1 box and 95 loose 
			 Hole punch 3 
			 Drawing pins 1 box 
			 Sellotape 14 rolls 
			 A4 notebooks 1 pack and 38 loose 
			 Stick on tabs 15 packs 
			 Notepads 4 
			 Card folders 4 packs and 70 loose 
			 Plastic folders 20 
			 Scissors 3 pairs 
			 Elastic bands 4 boxes 
			 Address labels 7 packs 
			 Marker pens 66 
			 Assorted pencils and pens 1 box 
			 A5 notepads 3 
			 A4 index dividers 9 
			 A4 plastic sleeves 2 packs 
			 Rulers 7 
			 Compliment slips 1 box 
			 Carton tape 1 roll 
			 Headed paper 6 packs 
			 Polly pockets 6 packs 
			 Plastic trays 6 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Printer Cartridges 
			 Product Quantity 
			 Printer/toner cartridges 40 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: Treasury Tags and Other Fasteners 
			 Product Quantity 
			 Treasury tags 19 packets 
			 Staples 25 boxes 
			 Foldback clips 2 boxes 
			 Bull clips 15 boxes 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 4: Other Office Consumables 
			 Product Quantity 
			 Ball of string 1 
			 Bubble wrap 1 roll

Terrorism

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officials from her Department attended the recent Crown court trial of John Downey in an official capacity; which representatives of the British-Irish Inter-Governmental Secretariat attended that trial in an official capacity; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: No official representative from either the Northern Ireland Office or the British Irish Inter-Governmental Secretariat attended the Crown court trial of John Downey.

SCOTLAND

Consultants

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

David Mundell: In the last financial year the Scotland Office did not engage or pay any money to any consultancy firm.

Employment Agencies

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office used two companies to provide temporary workers in the last financial year. Temporary workers in Edinburgh were employed from Pertemps Recruitment Partnership Ltd at a total cost of £37,639.21; in London, temporary workers were employed from Eclipse Recruitment Ltd at a total cost of £40,214.17.

TRANSPORT

Crossrail Line

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to ensure that the benefits of Crossrail are shared with passengers using London Victoria, London Bridge and London Blackfriars railway stations; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: Crossrail will transform rail transport in London, increasing rail capacity by 10%, reducing congestion and cutting journey times across the city. The Crossrail route will run over 100 km from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. Crossrail will provide connections with more underground lines than any other service, which will enable more direct journeys and simpler interchanges.
	Crossrail will decongest many London Underground lines, notably the Jubilee, Central, District and Circle lines, which many users of London Victoria, London Bridge and London Blackfriars stations use to connect with a range of destinations across London.
	A new major rail interchange will be created at Farringdon connecting Crossrail and Thameslink services. This will benefit passengers using Thameslink services to London Bridge and London Blackfriars who will be able to interchange directly onto Crossrail services operating on a 24 train per hour basis from Farringdon connecting passengers directly to Canary Wharf in nine minutes and Bond Street in five minutes. Passengers using London Victoria will have quick access to Crossrail services via the tube network at Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road.

Infrastructure: North West

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Government invested in highway and infrastructure construction in the North West in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.

Stephen Hammond: HM Treasury’s ‘Country and Regional Analysis November 2013’ states that identifiable public capital expenditure on transport in the North West of England was: 2009-10 £1,229 million, 2010-11 £1,268 million, 2011-12 £1,261 million, 2012-13 £1,257 million.

Stationery

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not hold this information centrally and commissioning a stock take of stationery stock levels would represent a disproportionate cost.

Transport: Windsor

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps he has taken to improve transport connections between Windsor and London.

Stephen Hammond: The programme to increase passenger capacity on the Windsor to Waterloo railway by 25% is now under way and will be completed in early 2015. 60 additional carriages are being incorporated into an extended and refurbished fleet of trains to operate as a maximum 10 carriage train length. The first additional vehicles are now in service. From May 2014, platform 20 of the former Waterloo International station will be brought into use for scheduled services. Construction of Crossrail is now half completed and electrification of the Great Western main line is also under way; the Slough to Windsor and Eton Central line will be electrified by 2019. The Highways Agency is welcoming preliminary comments on the M4 Smart Motorway scheme between Junction 3 (Hayes) and Junction 12 (Theale) until the end of April 2014, and will conduct a formal public consultation on the scheme in the autumn. Subject to development consent and the final business case, construction could start in spring 2016.

West Coast Railway Line

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what he expects the percentage increase in passenger capacity on the West Coast Mainline to be as a result of High Speed 2.

Robert Goodwill: HS2 provides a very significant expansion of the rail network’s ability to carry passengers and freight, resulting in improvements to rail services throughout the country.
	Compared with today’s capacity, HS2 will ultimately triple the seats available at Euston during the peak hour. The initial Phase One service plan for HS2 in 2026 doubles seating capacity at Euston during the peak hour, while more than doubling commuter and regional service seating capacity, where the crowding pressure is greatest. HS2 will allow space to be released on the existing network, including the West Coast Mainline to enable regional, commuter and freight traffic to grow, and for a well-planned timetable of other services to places not served by HS2.

West Coast Railway Line

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what calculations he has used to estimate actual take-up by freight of any spare capacity releases on existing West Coast Mainline tracks if High Speed 2 Phase 2 is realised, including the costs of double and triple handling of goods, products and containers from point of production to point of sale.

Robert Goodwill: HS2 has the potential to increase the amount of freight that can be carried by rail between London and the West Midlands by using the existing mainline capacity that it releases. HS2 Ltd’s assessment concludes that an extra 20 West Coast Mainline freight paths could be released. The Department has not conducted any analysis of potential take-up of these freight paths released by HS2, and such take-up would be a commercial matter for rail freight operators.

West Coast Railway Line

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2014, Official Report, column 940W, on railways: passengers, and to paragraph 4 of Annex 2 to the Tenth Report of the Transport Committee of Session 2010-12, High Speed Rail, HC 1185-i, what assessment he has made of whether an 80 per cent increase in seats on the West Coast Mainline by 2016 should create enough extra seats to deal with projected increase in passenger growth outlined in the answer.

Robert Goodwill: The Department for Transport asked Network Rail to carry out an assessment of the 51M and RP2 proposals referred to in paragraph 4 of Annex 2 to the Tenth Report of the Transport Committee of Session2010-12, High Speed Rail, HC 1185-i. This assessment is available at:
	http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/hs2-review-of-strategic-alternatives/hs2-review-of-strategic-alternatives.pdf
	Network Rail’s assessment suggests that the additional capacity proposed by both 51M and RP2 would not match the demand growth on the route and would not solve the overcrowding on suburban services at the southern end of the route in the peak.

TREASURY

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Nia Griffith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effect of fiscal policy on the number of young people claiming jobseeker's allowance for over 12 months since May 2010.

Nicky Morgan: Long-term youth unemployment is falling, the number of young people who have been claiming jobseeker’s allowance for over a year has fallen for 17 consecutive months.
	But no young person should be left behind in the recovery. We have delivered 1.7 million apprenticeships starts so far this Parliament. We will abolish employer national insurance contributions for under 21s which will help to support jobs for almost 1.5 million young people in employment. And we are supporting up to 500,000 young people into education and employment through the Youth Contract.

Saving

Steven Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of sustained low interest rates on incentives to save; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: Low interest rates have benefited everyone, including through reducing mortgage rates, but the Government recognise that this has made it harder for people’s savings to grow and to secure an adequate income for retirement. The Government believe it is right, therefore, to support hard working people that have taken the long term decisions to save and plan for their future.
	The Budget package announced last month aims to help all savers at all stages of life. It reduces tax for the lowest income savers; reforms the ISA regime to give all savers greater flexibility as to where and how they save their money; and creates new products to help retired savers see a better return.

Income Tax

Ian Murray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of how much the reduction in the additional rate of income tax to 45 per cent will be worth each year for a person earning £1 million a year.

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of how much the reduction in the additional rate of income tax to 45 per cent will be worth each year for a person earning £1 million a year.

David Gauke: I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the answer I gave today to the hon. Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson).

Pensioners on Low Incomes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what fiscal steps he is taking to help pensioners on low incomes.

David Gauke: Supporting pensioners is a key priority for this Government. Due to the triple lock, the full basic state pension has increased this month to £113.10 a week-a cash rise of £2.95. This is around £8.50 a week higher than it would have been if it had been uprated only in line with average weekly earnings growth since the start of this Parliament.
	We have also passed through the cash rise, due to the triple lock, to the minimum guarantee in pension credit. This ensures that the poorest pensioners also benefit.
	This Government also continue to protect universal pensioner benefits, such as winter fuel payments, free eye tests and prescriptions.

“Europe for Citizens” Programme

Michael Connarty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the potential funds that will accrue to the public purse from the "Europe for Citizens" programme.

Nicky Morgan: No estimate has been made of potential funds that will accrue to the public purse from the Europe for Citizens Programme.

Business Premises Renovation Allowance

David Mowat: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to reform the business premises renovation allowance following HM Revenue and Customs' recent consultation.

David Gauke: The Government have introduced legislation in Finance Bill 2014 to clarify the scope of Business Premises Renovation Allowance. The aim is to address exploitation of the allowance, while preserving it as an investment incentive and ensuring continued value for money for tax payers.

Bank Services

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect the introduction of seven-day bank account switching has had on the number of people changing bank account provider; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Current Account Switching Service launched in September of last year, and has had a very positive impact. Early signs are positive, with switching numbers in Q4 of 2013 up by 17% compared to Q4 of the previous year.
	The Financial Conduct Authority will carry out a review in September of this year into the effectiveness of the Current Account Switching Service. This will include an assessment of the effect the introduction of seven day account switching has had on the number of people changing bank account provider.

Consultants

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

Andrea Leadsom: Since January 2011, central Government Departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the contracts they award:
	www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/
	In addition, Departments publish details of spend in excess of £25,000 at:
	www.gov.uk/government/collections/25000-spend

Credit: Interest Rates

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will bring forward proposals to limit the interest rate payable on payday loans; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make personal debt charged at an APR of over 30 per cent unrecoverable; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government legislated in the Banking Reform Act 2013 to require the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to introduce a cap on the cost of high-cost short-term credit, including payday loans, in order to protect consumers from excessive costs. In designing the cap, the FCA will take into account the interest rate and other fees and charges which may be incurred in relation to a high-cost loan.
	As part of the FCA’s powers to cap the cost of credit in the Financial Services Act 2012, the Government gave the FCA specific powers to prevent a lender enforcing a credit agreement and recovering the debt, if the agreement contravenes its rules on the cost of credit. It can also require that any money or property transferred under the credit agreement must be returned.
	The FCA is currently conducting analysis to inform the design of the cap; it has committed to publishing its proposed rules which implement the cap in July. The FCA plans to publish final rules in the autumn and all lenders must be compliant with the cap by 2 January 2015. The Government support the FCA’s proposed timetable for implementing the cap: it allows the FCA appropriate time to conduct analysis, consult on its proposals and ensure that firms are fully compliant by January. It also allows the FCA to draw on the insight of the Competition and Markets Authority’s study into payday lenders in designing the cap.

Employment Agencies

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.

Andrea Leadsom: Under this Government’s transparency programme, contracts are published on Contracts Finder which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder
	In addition all Departments publish details of transactions above £25,000. Data for HM Treasury can be found at:
	www.gov.uk/government/collections/25000-spend

Private Sector

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by his Department since May 2010.

Andrea Leadsom: HM Treasury have not transferred any jobs to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing since May 2010.

Social Security Benefits

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in each (a) region and (b) constituent part of the UK were in receipt of (i) universal credit and (ii) other in-work tax credits or benefits at the beginning of the current financial year; and if he will estimate the likely numbers of such people in each of the following two financial years.

Nicky Morgan: The provisional award Child and Working Tax Credits statistics for December 2013, split by geography, are available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/266640/1312_Geog_sent.xls
	Table 2 breaks down Tax Credit claimants by Region and Table 4 by constituency. Those in receipt of WTC are presented within the ‘WTC and CTC’ and ‘With no children’ columns.
	Figures for the current financial year are not yet available, but HMRC are due to publish the next provisional tax credits national statistics for April 2014 on 25 April.
	Forecasts of tax credit claimant numbers are not available.
	Official statistics on Universal Credit were published on 19 March and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293502/universal-credit-first-release-mar14.pdf
	DWP announced plans for the next stage of implementation on 5 December, and these were set out in a written ministerial statement (WMS). The WMS can be found here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/universal-credit-progress
	Statistics on numbers in receipt of other benefits are available here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2014

VAT

Hilary Benn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many VAT431C claims have been submitted in each of the last 32 quarters;
	(2)  how many VAT431NB claims have been submitted in each of the last 32 quarters.

David Gauke: Data on these forms are not kept on a quarterly basis.

WALES

Consultants

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office did not employ any consultants in 2013-14.

Employment Agencies

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.

Stephen Crabb: The information requested is as follows, for financial year 2013-14:
	
		
			  £ 
			 Brook Street 3,929 
			 Ellwood Atfield 3,054

Stationery

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

Stephen Crabb: As a small Government Department the Wales Office does not keep large amounts of stationery or other office consumables. The level of stock is monitored regularly, and replenished as necessary to meet business needs.
	The Wales Office uses IT services under Ministry of Justice contracts which include the supply of printer cartridges. Cartridges are ordered automatically and we hold no reserves.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Disability Living Allowance

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients there are of disability living allowance, by parliamentary constituency.

Michael Penning: The information requested is already published and can be found at:
	http://83.244.183.180/100pc/dla/ccparlc/ccsex/a_carate_r_ccparlc_c_ccsex_aug13.html

Personal Independence Payment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many times the date set for the implementation of the personal independence payment programme has changed since that policy was introduced.

Michael Penning: Personal independence payment was introduced, as planned, to a limited geographical area from 8 April 2013 for new claimants. As further planned, it was extended nationally from 10 June 2013 for new claimants.

Personal Independence Payment

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the criteria is by which his Department determined the successful bidders for management of the administration of the personal independence payments contracts.

Michael Penning: The personal independence payment (PIP) assessment providers were selected following a fair and open competition.
	Tenders were assessed against a detailed set of criteria which covered key aspects of PIP service delivery. A wide range of areas were assessed but particular weighting was given to bidders' management of the claimant journey, staff recruitment, delivering assessments by health professionals, performance management, estates and overall implementation.
	Providers were selected on the basis of the most economic advantageous tender which overall assessed a combination of qualitative, risk and financial factors to determine the preferred supplier for each contract to be awarded.

Personal Independence Payment

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of claimants who will receive higher rates under the new personal independence payment compared to the disability living allowance.

Michael Penning: The Department published its estimates of the proportion of claimants to personal independence payment (PIP) who will be in receipt of both the enhanced rates on 19 December 2012, available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180964/pip-reassessments-and-impacts.pdf
	By May 2018, we estimate that 23% of claimants will be receiving both the enhanced rates. In comparison, we estimate that the proportion receiving both the higher rates of disability living allowance without the introduction of PIP would be 16%.

Personal Independence Payment

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the performance of Capita on processing medical assessment reports for personal independence payments.

Michael Penning: The Department’s contract with Capita for the delivery of assessments for personal independence payment includes a full set of service level agreements setting out the Department's expectations for service delivery. We are closely monitoring their progress against these and are taking action to drive up performance where this does not meet the required standards.
	We are aware that, in many cases, it is taking longer than we would like for claimants to have their assessments with Capita. We are working closely with our supplier to speed up the process for claimants.

Personal Independence Payment: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what average length of time was taken to process personal independence payments applications and DS1500s for clients who were terminally ill in Wales in the last year;
	(2)  if his Department will introduce a seven day deadline for the processing of personal independence payments for the terminally ill.

Michael Penning: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Stephen Twigg) and the hon. Member for Airdrie and Shotts (Pamela Nash), on5 March 2014, Official Report, column 850W.
	Although personal independence payment is a new benefit, and the Department does not have a target for completion of claims while processes are bedding in, we do deal urgently with special rules claims for terminally ill claimants. We are implementing a range of improvements to improve clearance times for people with a terminal illness, including a dedicated phone service which we introduced in February 2014.

Procurement

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of his Department’s performance in handling commercial contracts.

Michael Penning: In 2013, the Department recruited a new commercial director who has reviewed the Department’s commercial capability and capacity. The review took account of the views and policy steers from the Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG), the chief procurement officer and Crown representatives.
	The review found that while there are areas of high capability, in some of the most complex contract areas there is a need to improve the capability and capacity of the Department’s commercial function and people. In line with civil service reform and the ERG-led procurement reform programme, the Department initiated a commercial improvement programme. The programme completed a commercial skills survey in October 2013. It also restructured the commercial organisation where assessment of current practice against the standards of the NAO contract management model was also conducted.
	The commercial improvement programme will strengthen commercial capability by developing and running training to underpin contract management capability and fill identified current skills gaps. Further improvement actions will be informed by the report of an independent assessment of the Department’s contract management capability, currently being conducted by Price Waterhouse Coopers. The Department’s commercial capability will also be evaluated by a review team as part of a new ERG programme during 2014.

Social Security Benefits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the administration costs are, per claimant, of (a) disability living allowance and (b) personal independence payments.

Michael Penning: Personal independence payment (PIP) and disability living allowance (DLA) are different benefits with different delivery models. PIP includes a more objective assessment process, with a face-to-face consultation for most people. That is different to DLA, which is a self-assessed paper based process that purely looks at the type of health condition or impairment they have. It was always expected that PIP would produce an overall increased administration cost compared to DLA for these reasons. The current administration cost for DLA per claimant is £56.06. A comparable administration cost is currently unavailable for PIP.

State Retirement Pensions

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people currently receiving a UK state pension and living in the UK who would move abroad if pensions were up-rated for all UK pensioners living overseas.

Steve Webb: The Department has not made any estimate of the number of people currently receiving a UK state pension and living in the UK who would move abroad if pensions were uprated for all UK pensioners living overseas.
	It would be difficult to develop a robust estimate of this, as in practice there will be a wide range of factors that determine decisions to emigrate.

Stationery

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

Michael Penning: We do not have this level of information on a site by site basis either by value or volume. We operate a ‘lean’ supply chain with minimal stock holding.
	(a) Stationery
	We are unable to confirm any stock held by sites, inclusive of paper as this information is not collected.
	(b) Printer cartridges
	As part of the managed print service, we operate on the basis of one consumable per device as stock, or three for a colour device; we also hold some drums and other products depending on the model. There are approximately 7,910 devices at present. This does not take into account devices which are not part of the managed print service.
	(c) Treasury tags and other fasteners
	We do not have this information available, this would require further analysis of management information for the desktop stationery contract and definition of other fasteners to identify the appropriate product lines.
	(d) Other office consumables
	We do not have this information available, this would require further analysis of management information for the desktop stationery contract and definition of what constitutes other office consumables in order to obtain information for each individual product.

Wolverhampton

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an assessment of the effect of using Wolverhampton as a redistribution centre for all mail relating to processing benefit claims, payments and appeals on (a) time taken to process and (b) the reliability of the claims process.

Michael Penning: DWP post opening arrangements are delivered as part of a contract for Office Services awarded to Cofely (formerly Balfour Beatty Workplace) which commenced on 1 March 2007. The contract was let in line with EU procurement legislation and offers significant cost savings and efficiencies over the previous arrangements which were a mixture of third party contractors and in-house teams.
	In 2013 and in partnership with Cofely, DWP has introduced a new initiative to transform DWP’s mail services. The Mail Opening, Scanning and Indexing Project will provide a single strategic service for post opening and scanning across DWP allowing our front-line staff to work more efficiently and effectively while drastically reducing our paper consumption, storage requirements and demonstrating the Departments commitment to the Government’s digital agenda.
	As part of the overall efficiencies, we have consolidated the number of MOUs from 29 sites operated by the Royal Mail Group to just two locations operated by Cofely, but underpinned by a new Royal Mail sorting office in Wolverhampton.
	The consolidation to two MOUs is currently being transformed; the Department is working with all the providers impacted in the supply chain to optimise quality, performance and service delivery.
	As with any new way of working, time is needed for processes and procedures to be bedded in and the Department continues to work closely with the supplier, regularly reviewing their performance. The Department is confident that this new way of handling inbound mail when coupled with the increase in scanning, will deliver efficiencies and a better service to our customers in the long term.